FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH – PERFORMANCE IN SANDEFJORD:
Got up early enough to go for a great jog along the waterfront. It was cold when I started out but I quickly warmed up. Really beautiful scenery the entire run. Quick breakfast, shower and check out by 11 am for the 1 hour drive to Sandefjord. Happy the rain and clouds are gone because we are outside tonight in a Fest Tent. Hope that helps bring a huge crowd.
The drive was about an hour exactly and it’s a Scandic Hotel which are always very nice in Scandinavia. It is located right across the park from the Fest Tent where they will perform tonight. Took a while to get checked in and then we started down the hallway where they said the elevators to our rooms were located just as 225 people exited a Convention in that part of the hotel. We got stuck crushed up against the wall with our bags until everyone went past. The receptionist had warned us not to try to eat lunch at the hotel restaurant because all 225 of the attendees were going in there to eat. It’s a very “quiet” convention because all the attendees are “signing”.
Frank came by swearing and pulling his bag as we were waiting to go to the elevators. Evidently, there are several “wings” to the hotel and the elevators he took could not access his room. I had to go back to the front desk and get better directions. We hiked quite a distance and finally found the elevators. Dropped off the bags and met everyone downstairs to walk to lunch. We are right on the water and there are beautiful ships in the harbor. I thought one really big one was a cruise ship but realized it is the ferry. We found a restaurant there and had lunch. Everyone but me had the fish soup and raved about it. I had a spinach salad and it was nothing special. I tasted of the fish soup to see if I had made a mistake and I didn’t. It tasted “fishy” and I don’t like fish if it tastes like fish! J
I walked over to the venue to let the promoter know that we would not need a ride to the venue unless it was raining. As I was walking over, it started raining! It quit just right before it was time for us to walk over. The show is in a large Fest Tent that will probably accommodate around 800 people. While the guys were doing their sound check, I walked over to a shopping mall and bought some water to have in my room. It’s a nice 3 story mall with some great shops. My suitcase weighs too much now that I have purchased the toys for Zac and Zoe, so I can’t buy anything!
Worked all afternoon and then had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Two of the guys were in there when I walked in. There is a “cod tenderloin” on the menu and that’s what they ordered. Only the waiter is from Germany and he thought they said “tenderloin” and brought them the beef. He did give them a free Norwegian cheesecake for dessert. They said the tenderloin was excellent anyway. I had the cod and it was very good. But, I don’t think it was Cod. It was much too thick, firm and flaky for Cod. Regardless, it was delicious.
I rode the “block” to the venue with Howard and David. There was an opening band performing when we arrived. We were supposed to have the backstage “meet and greet” at 9:30 pm but it was so loud, we couldn’t hear what anyone said. Also there were no lights so the photos taken with cell phones were all much too dark. The guys went on at exactly 10 pm and the tent was packed. After two nights of performing in theatres with “listening” audiences, this was from the “frying pan into the fire”! The crowd was drinking a LOT and there wasn’t any security that I could see. About ¾’s of the way through the show, the front row was so drunk, they were standing and reaching onto the stage. I was afraid that someone would pull the wires and/or monitors off the stage. I found the stage manager and told her she needed to get security to keep them off the front of the stage because if they pulled the gear off, the show was over. She got a man to go out and try to keep order but all he did was tell them to sit down. The second he walked away, they were right back up.
I was sitting backstage watching the show. The backstage was just a small area with a “curtain” separating it from the audience….much like many of the festivals where they perform. All of a sudden, I felt a breeze and everything went black. My first thought was that I was having a stroke. But “something” hit me in the head and the black curtain that had wrapped around my head lifted. Some drunk had launched himself about 6 feet backwards through the curtain and landed on me. Ha!
It was a great performance and I saw lots of my friends who live in Norway. The Bellamys went back for a long encore and then I had a car waiting for them to get them to the hotel. It was midnight when they got back and we have to leave at 5 am. OUCH!!!
Jude